


The Eagel and The Snake

by hexedmaiden



Category: Adam (2009), Charlie Countryman (2013), Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Bullying, Crush at First Sight, Elizabeth Buchwald (mentioned), Everyone is probably ooc, M/M, Nigel is flirty af, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-07-18 00:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19965916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexedmaiden/pseuds/hexedmaiden
Summary: It's Adam's 6th Year at Hogwarts and Nigel is a Durmstrang transfer student.





	1. The Summer Before

If you had asked anyone at Hogwarts, “Who do you think is going to be a Prefect?” Everyone would tell you Adam Raki. So it came to no one’s surprise when he showed up at the start of 5th year with a Prefect badge on the front of his Ravenclaw robes. He was not the pushover some students thought he would be. Adam was a major stickler for the rules. 

It was also no shock either that towards the end of the year he was not a favorite amongst his fellow students. He put so many students in detention that Professor McGonagall had to take away his detention writing privileges for quite some time that year.

Adam being a Prefect did not put a stop to some students bullying him. There was still teasing and name-calling from other students in his class and the lower years. Carol, his best friend he made in 1st year, would step in to protect him. Adam always felt safe with her and within the confines of the Ravenclaw common room. 

Many people had thought the two were dating, that was until Adam very bluntly said he was gay. Which of course made Beth Buchwald very upset seeing as they dated back in 3rd year. Adam on the other hand only recalls Beth kissing him once and constantly being in his personal space more than he liked. Beth started dating a Slytherin boy 2 weeks later. 

When the school year came to an end Adam had felt a bit sadder than usual. He was going to miss being in class, learning about the stars, and his friend, of course. Though Carol promised to write to him at least once a week. Of course, Adam still looked at the stars through his telescope at home. Learning all that he can about the planets and stars. 

And he did just that. He spent his summer break building his planetarium. Even enchanting his bedroom ceiling to display an accurate real-time night sky. In between, he would write back to Carol. His cat Esmeralda would patiently wait by the window for Carol’s owl Artemis to deliver a letter. Esmeralda and Artemis would groom each other while Adam would respond.

At the end of summer when Adam finally completed his planetarium display he laid beneath his stars, slowly falling asleep to the twinkling lights and sounds of space. Dreaming of the day he could share them with someone.

Unknown to him he would meet that person in 1 month, 2 weeks, and 3 days.


	2. Between Platforms 9 and 10

Adam slowly drifts from the darkness of sleep to the bright lights of the morning. His room is still faintly dark, despite the tiny rays of light from his bedside window reaching toward his bed. He makes a small whining sound as he tries to snuggle back into the warmth of his bed. He opens one of his eyes trying to adjust to the light. 

Now that he is fully awake he is aware of the body heat trapped under the blanket that is all around him. He rolls over to check the digital clock on his nightstand, it’s blue numbers read 6:59 a.m. Adam grabs the corner of his sheet and blanket and tosses them off of his body before sitting up. He yawns and swings his legs over the edge of his bed. 

Getting up, Adam walks to the bathroom he shares with his dad to take a shower. After, Adam dries himself off, then wraps the towel around his waist. He quickly blow-dries his hair before heading back into his room. Opening his closet Adam grabs his navy blue polo and black trousers he set out the night before. He opens the top drawer of his dresser to grab a pair of socks and underwear. 

Once he is fully dressed he walks over and fixes his bed. Adam gives his bedroom one more look over before leaving and closing the door. He passes the bathroom and his father’s room as he walks down the hallway of the apartment into the kitchen. 

“Good morning, son.” Adam’s dad says to him as he enters the room. A soft meow and the crunch of food follows. Esmeralda’s way of saying good morning as well. 

“Good morning,” Adam replies as he continues walking to one of the kitchen overhead cabinets. Opening it he takes a bowl down and closes the door. Sitting it down on the counter he goes to the pantry to get a box of All-Bran cereal into the bowl. After putting the box away, he opens the drawer to grab a spoon to put in his cereal. Adam opens the fridge to grab his water bottle and takes the bowl over to the kitchen table. 

Adam sits across from his dad and the two eat in comfortable silence. 

When the two finish eating breakfast, his dad takes their dirty dishes to rinse them out in the sink, then puts them into the dishwasher. Even picking up Esmeralda’s food and water bowl to clean out. 

“Adam, you ready to go?” His dad asks as he starts the dishwasher.

“Y-yes.” Adam gets up from his chair and pushes it back under the kitchen table. Esmeralda lets out a chirping sound as if to say she’s ready too.

Locking the apartment behind them the family makes their way down a flight of stairs before opening the door to the brisk September air. They head to the car where Adam’s dad had put all of Adam’s school trunks in the night before. Adam puts Esmeralda, who is in her cat crate, in the backseat where he buckles her in. 

The drive to Kings Cross station is a peaceful one. Adam watches out of the window as his neighborhood gives way to fields with herds of sheep and cows. They sit in silence for a while. The fields turn to a scattering of houses before becoming a small town, then a city as they get closer to the train station. Adam begins to wiggle in his seat to sit up straight as his dad pulls into the parking lot. 

They both get out of the car going around to the boot of the car. Adam’s dad goes and grabs a trolley to sit the trunks and cases in. The two of them gather Adam’s things from the boot and Adam opens the back door to unbuckle the cat crate. A small meow emits from the crate, Adam smiles and sticks a finger inside the door to give Esmeralda a small scratch to her head. 

His dad pushes the cart while Adam carries his cat as they make their way inside the station. Inside there’s a rushing crowd of people. Adam’s grip tightens around the handle of the crate even harder as they weave amongst the crowd. Adam focuses on his breathing remembering to count as his therapist told him to. They finally make it through a herd of people and down the ramp to the train platforms. 

“Ready?” Adam’s dad smiles at him. He remembers watching his eleven-year-old son get his first Hogwarts letter. Adam gently opened the letter being careful not to damage the wax seal. He read allowed his letter, his blue eyes seemingly getting brighter the more excited he got. Snapping back to reality, Adam smiles back and they both take off toward the brick pillar between platforms 9 and 10.


	3. Hogwarts Express

Adam is the first to appear onto platform 9¾ then the trunk cart, followed by his father. All around them wizarding families were seeing their children off to Hogwarts. Some first-years stare around in amazement, especially those who are Muggle-born. A few could be seen crying to be leaving their parents for the first time. Adam looks around and finds a gathering of some of his fellow schoolmates and waves back at them as he passes.

Not far down the platform, Adam sees familiar blonde hair. Carol turns around to see him, her blue eyes sparkling as she breaks away from their Ravenclaw housemates. Carol rushes up to meet Adam and his dad, and the three of them walked over to the group. 

“How was your summer, Adam?” Carol asks. 

“It was very educational. Remember how we learned in Astronomy that approximately 30 meteor showers that are visible to us? I got to see one during the summer. It’s far much better to witness them is away from the light pollution so you can see them better with a telescope. Also, Esmeralda has learned to fetch things. Which isn’t entirely uncommon for cats.” Adam simply tells her. Carol smiles at him. Adam tries to keep things short, but it can be difficult. Carol never tries to rush him and that’s one of the reasons they are such great friends.

“Woah! That’s seriously awesome. I’m so happy you got to see the meteor shower. But what I can’t believe is that this beauty is soo talented.” Carol goes into her baby-talking voice and pets Esmeralda through the bars of the crate. Esmeralda purrs and wiggles around inside at the attention. 

Carol and Adam join in talking with their classmate catching up with what everyone had done over their summer break. Carol went to Quidditch game with her parents (Adam was of course invited to, but was not a fan of the crowds besides not being interested in sports whatsoever.) A few others in the group had also gone. Molly mentioned her family went on vacation to Paris over summer. Adam caught Carol rolling her eyes at that. 

It wasn’t too much time later that the whistle of the Hogwarts Express blew. Looking around Adam just notices that his dad has wandered over to a group of parents. He recognizes Carol’s mum and dad talking to his dad. Adam & Carol break from the group to say goodbye. Adam hugs his dad before running off with Carol to board the train. The two of them navigating the smallish corridor to the Prefect cabin. 

Inside the cabin sits five others who have all mostly changed into their robes and uniforms. Carol and Adam sit next to each other with Adam sitting Esmeralda’s crate in between them and opening the small door. She pops her head out and looks around before slinking to the floor. Everyone gives her a small pet as she walks around the cabin. Once she finishes exploring she returns to jump into Carol’s lap. 

They all chatter away a bit about their summers some more and their goals for the new year. Even comparing class schedules, to no one’s surprise Carol and Adam share a lot of the same classes this year. The laughter in the cabin stops when they hear a knock on the door. Adam leans over to slide the door open.

“Hello, dears. Anything from the trolley?” The elderly woman asks.

A few students grab some sweets and drinks. Adam buys himself a pumpkin pasty. Esmeralda meows loudly for a bite, which Adam does by breaking off a small piece. Once she’s had her share she settles right back down in his lap. Everyone cooed and giggled at her. Carol pets her and calls her a spoiled princess. 

It wasn’t much later that a couple of them who had finished eating get up to patrol the halls and let the other students know to change into their robes for they would soon be arriving at Hogwarts.


	4. The New Boy

The train slowly pulls into the Hogsmeade station. As the train comes to a complete full stop the conductor comes over the loudspeaker to announce that they’ve arrived and wished for everyone to have a great school year. Once the speech ends the kids begin to rush off the train. The older students file out in a more organized fashion. 

Adam packs Esmeralda back into her crate and straightens his robes before heading off the train with the rest of the Prefects. The group stands on the platform waiting for the underclassmen to lead them to the doors of Hogwarts. Hagrid calls for all of the first-year students to follow him. As the first years head to the boats with Hagrid, the rest of the students follow their house Prefects to the carriages parked along the path to Hogwarts.

Once they reach the stairs to the entrance the large ornate wooden doors open of their own accord. Inside the students make their way to The Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall greets them all before they enter the room. Everyone branches off to sit at their respective tables as they await the sorting hat ceremony. Not much later the doors open again and Professor McGonagall enters the room followed by a trail of first-year students. 

Everyone claps as the new students are called forward one by one to put on the sorting hat. By the time the last student is called, Hufflepuff had most of the newest students followed by Ravenclaw. When everyone settles down, Professor Dumbledore steps up to the intricately carved stone podium. 

“Good evening to you all. To our new students, welcome to Hogwarts, and our returning students, welcome back. First years should know the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to those who do not wish to die. Before I let you all fill your hungry stomachs, I would like to announce we have a transfer student this year, all the way from Durmstrang.” Dumbledore smiles at the crowd of students who start to whisper among themselves.

Durmstrang was one of the three European schools of witchcraft and wizardry. It’s very well known to only accept non-muggle born students. They are one of the only schools to prominently have the Dark Arts in their curriculum. 

“I would like for you all to give a big warm Hogwarts welcome to Mr. Nigel Ibanescu,” Dumbledore says as the doors to The Great Hall burst open. Everyone’s head whipped around to see the new boy enter the room. 

In strides a boy with brownish-blond hair wearing a large fur-collared cloak over the required Hogwarts uniform. He wears a serious expression on his face as he makes his way to the front of the room to stand next to Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall brings the sorting hat over to Nigel, who tilts his head for her to place the sorting hat upon his head. Almost immediately the hat shouts “Slytherin!” 

The Slytherin table breaks out into cheers as he joins their table. Dumbledore finishes his speech once the hall returns to silence. The tables fill with an array of food to kick off the start of the year feast. Adam fills his plate with chicken, green beans, and a steaming baked potato. He eats quietly as everyone around him talks about the new boy. Some said he got kicked out of his other school for beating up another boy so badly that he ended up in a hospital. Another student said he’s from a family of crime lords who trying to hide. 

Adam thought both of these ideas were very silly. Why would Hogwarts accept a student so violent he almost killed someone? If that’s true, he'd be in Azkaban and not Hogwarts. Also, a son of a crime lord in hiding? It is possible, but if everyone knows who he is then he’s doing a terrible job of not being found out. 

He finishes eating his dinner and grabs a dinner roll just before the desserts appear. The talk around the table has not shifted from why Nigel is here to the girls and some of the guys talking about how handsome he is. Adam does agree that Nigel’s cheekbones are very aesthetically pleasing. Carol snorts with laughter. 

As the conversations come winding down the food has all disappeared from the table and students around the room begin to yawn. Prefects from each house get up and gather their first-year students to take them to their common rooms. Adam catches a glimpse of Nigel before the group of Ravenclaws leaves The Great Hall to journey up the staircases to the Ravenclaw towers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know yesterday's chapter was a short one, but Nigel has finally arrived!  
> Thank you all so much for reading and commenting so far, it means a lot <3
> 
> You can find me @hexedmaiden on pillowfort & twitter
> 
> See you all next week!


	5. Charms

The next morning Adam wakes early before the sun can even begin to brighten the boys' dormitory. He makes quick work of putting on his uniform and robes. Neatly sliding his school books and course work into his bag before he goes down to the common room. Waiting for him on the couch is Carol, who gets up from her seat where she was petting Esmeralda. Carol tells her goodbye. Adam smiles, and the two make their way to The Great Hall for breakfast. 

The Great Hall is still fairly empty and quiet this early in the morning. It’s mostly Prefects and a few of the studier students in the hall. Carol and Adam grab themselves an empty spot at the Ravenclaw table. A wide selection of food appears before them just like the night before. Carol grabs herself some waffles, ham, and sausages. Adam goes for a bowl of cereal and plucks a muffin from the tower of muffins before him. The two friends eat in silence for the most part. It isn’t long before they finish eating and their empty dishes and cups disappear from the table.

They gather their belongings and get up from the table walking past other students coming in for breakfast. They walk close to one another as they try to weave in between the crowd. Adam almost clears the crowd with no incident. Until someone rounds the corner and knocks into him, causing Adam to stumble backward. His heart drops from his chest and tries to ready himself for a fall...that never comes? 

Instead, he feels two hands reach out and catch him. Adam lets out a tiny gasp and opens his eyes to a set of deep dark brown eyes. The heat of the pair of hands around his waist feels like fire. 

“I’m sorry, angel. You alright?” The brown-eyed man asks. 

“Y-yes thank you. My name is Adam, not angel. Also, you can let go now.” Adam replies trying to straighten himself up. Blushing a bit from embarrassment. 

“Adam, I’ll make sure to remember that. I’m Nigel.” He flashes a smile and removes his hands from Adam’s waist. Nigel opens his mouth to speak again but a group of Slytherin students starts calling for Nigel to come with them for breakfast. Nigel looks over to them.

“Sorry, Adam, I've got to go but I’ll hopefully see you again?” He asks.

“Possibly, I have a few classes with some Slytherins and there’s always lunch and dinner as well.” Adam pulls his school bag closer to himself. 

“Well, I’ll see you then, angel.” Nigel winks at him and saunters off to join his classmates. Before entering The Great Hall, Nigel takes a glance back to Adam and disappears through the doors.

Adam starts walking over to Carol who is just standing in the hallway waiting for him with the biggest grin on her face. 

“So,” Carol gently bumps Adam’s elbow with hers, “Nigel seems nice?”

Adam tilts his head.

“Yes, he was nice. He apologized for bumping into me.” Adam nods. 

“He’s nice, polite, and you think he’s aesthetically pleasing.” Carol gives Adam a look.

“Um, yes…” Adam furrows his brows. It sounds like Carol is trying to imply something but he can’t tell. Carol doesn’t say anything more, just hmms and nods. 

The two walk the halls helping first years navigate the campus. Adam checks his watch occasionally making sure they get to their classes on time. Carol and Adam make their way to the changing staircase and down a hallway before entering the first classroom. They were the first students to arrive and grabbed seats in the front of the room. It wasn’t long before more students began to trickle into the class. Professor Flitwick strides into the room right as the bell rings and heads to the front of the room.

“Welcome everyone to the first Charms lesson of your 6th year!” Professor Flitwick claps his hands. “All right, now in front of you, all is a vial of vinegar. Now I want you to try to turn it into wine!” 


	6. Defense Against the Dark Arts

By the end of class, most students had turned their vials only red. Adam got the closest, red, and no vinegar taste. None of his classmates were at all surprised. 

Adam gathers his things as Carol tells him she’ll see him later when they part ways for Adam to go to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. 

The classroom is filled with mostly Slytherins and a sprinkling of Gryffindors. Adam takes the empty seat near the wall in the back of the classroom. He reaches into his bag, pulling out his quill and ink, followed by some parchment. He leans over to set his bag on the floor at his feet. As he sits back up he’s startled by a voice in his ear.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Nigel smirks at him. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“H-hello, Nigel. Well, you did. You should make sure people know you’re around or you could accidentally harm someone or yourself. Harlan says if you aren’t careful you could scare someone to death by sneaking upon them. I never researched to see if it's possible to scare someone to death.” Adam smiles back at him while Nigel just stares at him before shaking his head and lets out a huff of laughter.

“I promise to be more careful, darling. Don’t want to add to the rumor mill that I’ve killed people.” Nigel scoffs.

“Thank you. Yes, that wouldn’t be good at all. I wouldn’t listen to those rumors anyway. It doesn’t make sense that Hogwarts would allow a murderer inside the school, especially a student.” Adam explains to Nigel. “That’s what I’ve heard some students say that you killed someone at your old school and had to come here. Along with some other not so very pleasant things. But I’m sure they’re wrong.”

Nigel stares at Adam. He couldn’t look more bewildered if he tried. Nigel’s slack-jawed mouth slowly turns into a grin and begins to laugh loudly. Adam starts laughing along with him. 

"You know something, darling? You are something else. People are either too scared or trying to kiss my ass. Not you. You just say what you think, it's good." Nigel says. Adam's cheek warm at the compliment.

"Oh, well thank you for the compliment. It's hard sometimes just saying whatever is on my mind. It's gotten me into trouble a few times. I-" Adam is interrupted by Professor Lupin entering the classroom to begin their lesson of the day.

Adam spends most of the class taking notes and raising his hand to answer Professor Lupin’s questions. While Nigel, on the other hand, tries to keep up. Towards the end of class, the Professor hands out homework to everyone. As soon as the paper hits Adam’s desk, he immediately starts to skim the work and filling in some of the answers. Nigel peaks over at Adam’s paper marking a few on his paper as well. Adam catches him out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t say anything. 

When the students are dismissed, they gather their things and push their chairs under the desk. 

“Hey, Adam?” Nigel asks.

“Hmm?” Adam responds, trying to put his books back into his bag.

“Uh, would you like to maybe have lunch with me tomorrow?” Nigel tries to sound casual. 

“Sure, you wouldn’t mind eating with Carol and me at the Ravenclaw table, would you? It's just that it’s I’ve not eaten at another house’s table and I don’t like going outside of my routine.” Adam says shyly.

“That’s more than okay with me.” Nigel smiles when Adam looks at him.

The two walk side by side out the door and onto their next classes. Both excited to see each other again at midday. 


	7. Madam Pomfrey

Classes continue about the day very much the same. Adam takes copious amounts of notes while answering a majority of the questions asked by professors. By the time lunch finally rolls around Adam couldn’t be happier. Carol and Adam meet up by the staircase as they’ve always done since they’ve become friends back when they were first years. 

“Hey you, how was your morning been?” Carol asks as the pair made the trek to The Great Hall for lunch. Adam tells her about some of the more interesting lessons he’s had so far. He’s always loved Astronomy class the best, which he sadly doesn’t have until after lunch. But he does enjoy Professor Lupin’s teaching style. 

“Oh! I almost forgot, Nigel asked me to have lunch with him. I told him I don’t like messing up my routine so I told him he has to sit with us.” Adam continues as if he did just drop the most exciting news into Carol’s lap.

“Woah, are you telling me that cute, brooding, new boy Nigel asked you to lunch?!” Carol asks trying not to sound too giddy at the idea. 

“Um, yes. That’s the only Nigel we know.” Adam narrows his eyes trying to think if maybe they do know more than one Nigel at Hogwarts. 

“He is the only one we know. But aren’t you excited? This Nigel sounds like he wants to get to know you and you both are awfully cute together.” She playfully makes kissing noises at him and laughing. Adam smiles and shakes his head at her. Sometimes Adam will never understand how they became friends, but he’s glad they did. 

  
🌙

When Adam wakes up the following morning there’s a feeling in his stomach he somewhat doesn’t understand. The idea of having lunch with someone new does make him a little off-center, but there’s excitement there too. 

The morning goes by just about the same as yesterday. Taking notes, answering questions, and blushing over interacting Nigel. 

When the bell rang for lunch, he met once again with Carol at the stairs. 

The two of them enter The Great Hall, making their way to the Ravenclaw table. Adam’s eyes scan the table and can’t find Nigel. He feels the corners of his mouth turn down. Nigel promised he’d have lunch with Adam, but where is he? Blue eyes move around the room to no avail. Just as Adam thinks to give up, Nigel and the same group of Slytherins from this morning saunter into The Great Hall. 

When Nigel turns his head and sees Adam he grins and begins to break away from the group. Someone from the group wolf whistles as Nigel makes his way over, he whipped his head around to scowl at them. Making them laugh.

“Hello again, angel.” Nigel smiles gently at Adam. Not even realizing Carol is standing next to the brunette. 

“You weren’t at the table when I got here and I thought you broke your promise. I was sad, then you came in and I wasn’t sad anymore.” Adam tells him looking at Nigel’s shoulder.

“I didn’t mean to make you think I’d break a promise I made to you. But I’m glad you aren’t sad anymore.” Nigel replies. 

Carol watches the two of them practically make heart eyes at each other for a solid minute before making a fake coughing noise. The two boys startle apart.

“Hi, Nigel. I’m Carol, Adam’s best friend.” She says sticking her hand out for Nigel, her grip is strong and her eyes stared intensely into his as they shake hands. Nigel hears all of the unspoken threats of  _ if you hurt him, I’ll hurt you. _ He nods as if to say  _ I understand perfectly. _

“So Nigel, do you call all the pretty boys “angel” or just Adam?” Carol smirks as she let’s go of Nigel’s hand, making the taller man sputter and his cheeks turn red. 

Before Nigel can respond someone calls his name from behind. 

“Nigel, hey! Are you done talking to these losers yet?” A boy with short mousy brown hair comes to stand next to Nigel. Nigel’s once happy face turns into a scowl. 

“The fuck you just say?” 

“You can’t seriously be friends with these two. Everyone knows Raki over here’s a freak.” The boy looks down his nose at Adam. Nigel moves to block the mousy-haired boy’s view of Adam.

“I think you need to get out of my sight before things get fuckin ugly.” Nigel threatens.

“Very funny Nigel. Let’s go before people start thinking you’re screwing this fa-” Mouse Boy doesn’t even finish talking before Nigel takes a swing at him. The two of them are tussling on the floor as a crowd starts to swarm around the fight. Carol and Adam watch from the sidelines in shock. Adam whines as he grips Carol’s hand in distress. 

It feels like an eternity before some teachers come in to break up the fight. Nigel gets pulled off the other Slytherin, breathing heavily with a cut on his nose. Mouse Boy looks like he was attacked by an animal, and is immediately taken to Madam Pomfrey’s. Nigel, however, is escorted to the headmasters’ office. As he walks out with Professor Snape he glances back at Adam, with sad eyes he mouths  _ I’m sorry _ and disappears around the corner out of The Great Hall.

Everyone has scattered back to their tables to talk about what just happened. Carol pulls Adam to the Ravenclaw to sit down. Carol can feel Adam start to tense up and tremble. 

“Adam? Let’s sit down, okay?” asks Carol worriedly, gently tugging Adam allowing the table behind them. Adam doesn’t resist her and the two of them sit on the bench seats. He doesn’t understand why Nigel would do what he did. Was it because Nigel was defending Adam as Carol would? That must mean Nigel is his friend! But he hates the feeling in his gut watching Nigel punching that other boy. He hates that Nigel got in trouble. Yet, the idea of Nigel protecting him has his stomach turning in another way that feels oddly pleasant. 

Slowly Adam regains himself, no longer shaken up and his stomach had settled down that he feels hungry again. He and Carol eat lunch from the food that appears at the table much like it did at breakfast. His mood is no longer as pleasant as it was this morning but he still manages to talk a little bit with Carol while they eat. Carol does the majority of the talking, which she doesn’t mind doing. She’s learned just because Adam isn’t talking doesn’t mean he isn’t listening to her. 

  
🌙

When their lunchtime is over, they walk together to their next class. Carol occasionally would look over at Adam to see if he was doing okay. She can tell by the farrowing of his eyebrows that something was on his mind. She wanted to ask but had a good feeling of who he was thinking about and would ask him about it back at the dorm later. 

Once classes are over for the day Carol and Adam head back to the dormitory. Separating to go back to their rooms to work on any homework they were given. Adam has trouble concentrating. He hasn't seen hide nor hair of Nigel since the lunch incident. He hopes that Nigel is okay. Will Nigel hate him because he got hurt while trying to defend Adam? Adam runs his hands through his hair in frustration. He just wants to do his work and not think about Nigel. Adam closes his eyes and takes a breath. He thinks about the stars, which usually helps him calm down. Adam loosens his tie and undoes the top three buttons of his shirt next. Esmerelda meows at him before she jumps into his lap to curl up. Adam pets her gently, then moves the two of them to bed and the two drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have one chapter left and I'm almost sad its over! Thanks again for all the kudos and comments so far <3


	8. An Apology and A Kiss

Adam wakes to something softly tapping his face, he cracks one eye open to see a ball of fluff pawing at his face. Esmerelda stops batting at him to lick his nose as if she’s saying  _ Good human _ , and trots away. Adam gets up and puts on his more casual clothes for the weekend. He heads down into the Ravenclaw common room, where Carol sits with a certain ball of fur in her lap. 

Carol spots Adam and picks up Esmerelda from her lap, gives her a peck to the nose, and puts her on the couch before getting up. Esmerelda curls back into a ball of fur, while they make their way down the stairs from the Ravenclaw tower to get breakfast. When they open the door Adam immediately collides into a body.

“Oof!” Adam and the stranger say in unison. 

Adam takes a step back to get a look at the person.

“Nigel?” There before him stood a very disheveled Nigel who doesn’t look like he’s slept much since he last saw him. Both eyes have darkened circles around them, his left one more so due to the bruise under his eye.

“Adam, look. I know I probably scared you and you won’t want to talk to me again. But, I couldn’t let that rat-faced fucker talk about you like that. I don’t regret it and I’d kick his goddamn teeth in again for you, darling.” Nigel says very seriously, taking a deep breath. 

“Nigel, I, I was scared. Because seeing violence upsets me. I don’t like it. I was also worried that you would get very, very hurt or worse, expelled. I like you, and I appreciate you defending me.” Adam smiles at the end and flicks his eyes to Nigel’s face. Nigel’s shoulders lose their tension at Adam’s smile. 

“I like you too Adam. I’ll try my best to keep you from being scared because of me, and I can’t promise any more violence. I’ll always fight to keep you safe, darlin.” Nigel grins back at Adam. Adam’s fingers twitch towards Nigel’s own, he lets his fingers gently brush Nigel’s. Nigel threads his fingers between Adam’s before bringing the back of Adam’s hand to his lips briefly making Adam blush.

“Can we finally get breakfast?” Carol pipes up, poking her head from behind the door.

“Merlin’s fuckin beard!” Nigel jumps, finally noticing Carol who’s been standing back to give them a moment to themselves. Carol sticks her tongue out at him, and the trio makes their way to breakfast together. 

Adam and Nigel never letting go of each other’s hands until they sit down at the table. When Nigel’s friend Darko spots him from across the room gives a wolf whistle and a thumbs up to Nigel, who gives him the middle finger in return. Adam laughs at the exchange and gives Nigel a quick kiss to the temple. Carol swears if a person could melt, Nigel totally would have. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've reached the end! I hope you all have enjoyed this lil fic and thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos <3  
> You can find me on twitter and pillowfort @hexedmaiden


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